Hot cakes

Phil VettelTribune restaurant critic

Today we salute the noble pancake, that syrup-topped breakfast staple that earns sneers from dieters and cheers from just about everybody else.

There's nothing like a great pancake--piping hot, uniformly light brown with an inner texture like a fine bakery cake. At once self-sufficient and versatile, pancakes are great adorned with a pat of sweet butter and a drizzle of maple syrup, and yet they work brilliantly with fresh fruit, flavored syrups, confectioners' sugar and candied pecans--sometimes all at once.

I get hungry just thinking about them--or I would, if I hadn't been eating pancakes for breakfast for the better part of the last three weeks. That's not blood currently coursing through my veins; it's strawberry syrup.

A lot of independent restaurants--Red Apple in Carol Stream, Lou Mitchell's in the city--make superior hotcakes. But for this story, I focused on the multi-unit pancake houses scattered about the city and suburbs. Why? Because there always seems to be one close by. They're packed with customers, especially on weekends, and the price is always right.

Comments: If the reliable buttermilk pancakes at this comfy, country-cozy restaurant don't thrill you, at the very least they'll put you in a happy mood. The pancakes are tasty and thirsty; I particularly like the blueberry-banana pancakes, which fill every inch of the plate.

Comments: The first time I visited an IHOP is when my Uncle Al treated my family after church one Sunday. All those pancakes and five varieties of syrup--I was in heaven. The syrups that wowed me more than 30 years ago seem too sugary and artificial these days--the electric-pink strawberry syrup is particularly disturbing--but IHOP continues to produce pancakes that are fluffy and light, if a little bland. Best of all, IHOP is conducting an "All you can eat" pancake promotion through Feb. 19; start with a $4.99 five-flapjack stack (or breakfast combo) and you can eat until--well, I guess we'll find out, won't we?

Comments: There isn't a Lumes on every corner, but if you drive around the south suburbs it can feel like it. Bright, clean and very popular, Lumes offers buttermilk pancakes, crepes, blintzes and waffles with all manner of fruit toppings, including cinnamon-apple and cherries. The confectioners'-sugar-dusted pancakes are fine plain, however, and for the sturdy (and patient) there are oven-baked pancakes that take 20 to 40 minutes to make. One of them, the Signature Baby, arrives as a large puffy bowl filled with chopped fresh fruit. I'm not sure you can call it a pancake, exactly, but it tastes OK. I prefer the regular flapjacks here.

Comments: This chain dates to 1953, and its sourdough-yeast pancakes never disappoint. The cakes are light and have the texture of a good bakery-store cake. Order the strawberry pancakes and you'll get strawberry syrup, which is really thickened strawberry juice and tastes terrific. Maple syrup, served warm, is always available as well. The LaGrange Park location isn't much on looks, but oh, those pancakes.

Flapjack rating: Four flippers

Pancake Cafe

Location visited:

Other locations: , several in Wisconsin (same menu, different owners); www.pancakecafe.com

Comments: The Lemont operation, the only one owned by TV weatherman Andy Avalos, impresses with its warm good looks, piped-in classical music and other homey touches. The big sellers here are the oversized baked pancakes, including a banana-pecan version that's a killer. In addition to regular coffee, there's Andy's Blend, a signature hazelnut coffee that's so popular the restaurant sells it by the bag.

Comments: Although part of the Original Pancake House chain, Ray Walker's franchises do things a little differently--and to my mind, a little better. The blueberry pancakes here are the best I've had in my life, absolute hotcake heaven, and the banana pancakes drizzled with apricot glaze are just as good. Indulge in the big, baked apple pancake if you dare (it feeds at least two), or take a frozen one home for a morning when you don't feel like leaving the house.

Best Out-of-Pancake-House experience: Buy a Walker Bros. Frozen Apple Pancake ($7.95 at any location, as well as Sunset Foods stores), heat according to package directions and enjoy. The topping may not turn out quite as crisply as it does in the restaurant, but the flavors are true.

Fanciest pancake house: The 6,000-square-foot, marble-trimmed palace that is Coco's Pancake House (9505 S. Roberts Rd., Hickory Hills, 708-599-7838) has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Come for the soaring Corinthian columns, stay for the hotcakes.

Best pancake you can (theoretically) eat with your hands: The pancake sandwich at The Breakfast Club (1381 W. Hubbard St., 312-666-3166) is a two-fisted layering of pancakes and meat (bacon, sausage or ham), topped with an egg (any style). And no, nobody eats it like a sandwich.

Lightest. Pancakes. Ever. I swear, the pure maple syrup is the only thing keeping the aptly named Heavenly Hots stuck to the plate at Ina's (1235 W. Randolph St., 312-226-8227).

Most expensive pancakes: In a quick survey of Chicago's upscale hotel restaurants, the priciest pancakes we found are the $16 Chocolate-Chunk pancakes served at the Ritz-Carlton Cafe, Ritz-Carlton Chicago (160 E. Pearson St., 312-573-5160).